Higgs boson

Higgs boson

Previous data hinted that the Higgs boson might decay into something new to physics

12:42pm, September 15, 2014

DASHED HOPES The ATLAS detector, seen here during construction of the Large Hadron Collider in 2007, weighs about as much as the metallic structure of the Eiffel Tower. A close look at data from the LHC finds no evidence that the Higgs boson decays into a new, unknown particle.

A fresh analysis of data from the particle collider that delivered the Higgs boson has dashed physicists’ sliver of hope that another new particle had emerged from the subatomic shrapnel.

“We’ve learned that there’s no obvious Godzilla particle hiding with the Higgs,” says Tim Tait, a theoretical physicist at the University of California, Irvine. “Now we’re going to have to look for more subtle signs of new particles.” Discovering particles beyond the Higgs could help physicists understand mysterious components of the universe such as dark matter, which holds galaxies together yet does not absorb, reflect or emit light.

Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg suggests many would be horrified if all the LHC discovers is its prime target, the Higgs boson. Tom Siegfried and others blog from the 47th annual New Horizons in Science meeting sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing in Austin, Texas.